Rockies at Brewers
With Christian Yelich missing his first game of the season on Monday due to a back issue, Jesus Aguilar picked an opportune time to bust out of his season-long slump and do his best impression of the reigning National League MVP. With Yelich's status still uncertain for Tuesday, the 28-year-old Aguilar looks to continue tormenting the Colorado Rockies when the Milwaukee Brewers host them for the middle contest of their three-game series.
Aguilar, who batted .274 with 35 homers and 108 RBIs last season, entered the series opener batting .123 with no home runs and five RBIs before recording a three-run blast and a solo shot in his first two at-bats en route to a three-hit effort and a 5-1 victory. That performance sent Milwaukee to its third win in four games overall and extended the club's recent domination of Colorado as it has won 11 of the last 13 meetings, including its sweep of the NL Division Series last year. The Rockies were rolling entering this series, having scored 79 runs during a 10-3 stretch that followed a 3-12 start. Colorado's offense hasn't put up much of a fight against Milwaukee's pitching of late, however, as David Dahl's sixth-inning RBI infield single on Monday ended a 24-inning streak during which the Rockies had not scored in the all-time series dating back to last postseason.
TV: 7:40 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet-Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FS Wisconsin (Milwaukee)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH German Marquez (3-1, 2.54 ERA) vs. Brewers RH Jhoulys Chacin (2-3, 6.35)
Marquez logged his third consecutive quality start in Wednesday's win against Washington, allowing three runs while striking out seven over seven innings. The 24-year-old has been nearly impossible to solve in three road turns this season, going 2-0 with a 0.41 ERA while holding opponents to a .086 average in 22 frames. Ryan Braun (0-for-6) and Yasmani Grandal (1-for-11) have had virtually no success against Marquez, who permitted two runs and registered nine strikeouts over seven innings in a no-decision at Milwaukee last season.
Chacin surrendered two home runs for the third time in six outings during Wednesday's loss at St. Louis, yielding four runs and five hits while lasting only four innings. A 15-game winner last season, he already has served up seven homers in six turns this season after permitting 18 in 35 starts in 2018. Nolan Arenado is 3-for-9 with a home run and two walks versus Chacin, who is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in four career starts against Colorado.
WALK-OFFS
1. Aguilar is a career .381 hitter against the Rockies - his best mark against any NL opponent.
2. Colorado SS Trevor Story and OF Charlie Blackmon each went 0-for-4 in the series opener, ending their hitting streaks at 16 and 11 games, respectively.
3. Milwaukee 2B Mike Moustakas, who is batting .345 over his last 15 contests, went 1-for-3 on Monday to extend his hitting streak to seven games.